Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen says “external pressure” from China won’t stop her from engaging with world leaders after Beijing threatened retaliation if she meets with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calf.).
“External pressure will not hinder our determination to go to the world,” Tsai told reporters on March 29 as she left for the United States. “We are calm and confident, will neither yield nor provoke. Taiwan will firmly walk on the road of freedom and democracy and go into the world. Although this road is rough, Taiwan is not alone.”
Tsai’s comments came shortly after the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) threatened to retaliate if she met with McCarthy during her 10-day trip to Guatemala and Belize—two of only 13 countries that maintain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan—that began on March 29.
Tsai, whose final term ends next year, intends to meet with McCarthy during the California leg of her visit and will return to Taiwan on April 7, the spokesperson said. The visit with the Republican lawmaker hasn’t officially been confirmed yet by either Washington or Taipei.
CCP Aggression
Taipei has said Tsai’s trip to Central America involves transits that are standard practice and has warned Beijing not to use them as a pretext for aggressive action toward the island.However, Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, told reporters in Beijing that Tsai’s planned trip to the United States would allow her to meet with U.S. officials and lawmakers and could sabotage stability in the Taiwan Strait.
“If she has contact with U.S. House Speaker McCarthy, it will be another provocation that seriously violates the one-China principle, harms China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and destroys peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” she said.
Relations between the two nations have further deteriorated over the growing military pressure from communist China on Taiwan, which has been a self-governing democracy since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949.
The Chinese regime views the island as part of its territory that must be united with the mainland, by force if necessary. The CCP had repeatedly warned U.S. officials not to meet with Tsai, viewing it as support for the island’s desire to be seen as a separate country.
Republicans Move to Bolster US–Taiwan Relations
The Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, introduced on Feb. 24 by Rep. Ann Wagner (R-Mo.), was approved in a nearly unanimous vote of 404–7.Under the bill, the secretary of state would identify opportunities to lift “any remaining self-imposed limitations on U.S.–Taiwan engagement and articulate a plan to do so,” with Wagner noting that for decades, a majority of senior members of the federal government, including high-ranking military officers, were banned from visiting Taiwan because of pressure from Beijing.
The bill also directs the State Department to conduct reviews of its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan and submit a report to Congress at least once every two years detailing how the guidance deepens and expands U.S.–Taiwan relations and “reflects the value, merits, and importance” of the two nations’ relationship.
“Taiwan faces an unprecedented threat from an increasingly erratic People’s Republic of China. China is forging a dangerous relationship with Russia and, if we are to defeat the PRC’s plan to replace the United States as the world’s preeminent power, we cannot be ruled by fear,” Wagner, who is also vice chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement.
“That means boldly standing by our friends and partners, particularly Taiwan. We must increase our economic ties, defense relationship, and political support of Taiwan’s democratic system, and this bill will support these goals.”
Ma, whose policies brought Taiwan and Beijing close during his rule, has framed the visit as a bid to ease tensions between China and Taiwan, although the move has been condemned by some political opponents and activists.
